These Small Hours
by And The Moment's Gone
Summary: [DRABBLE COLLECTION] "Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate. Time falls away, but these small hours still remain."
1. Last One to Know

Title: These Small Hours  
Category: Movies » Fast and the Furious  
Author: And The Moment's Gone  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Words: 1,406

Warnings/Spoilers: Do NOT watch if you haven't seen Furious 7.

Summary: "I've **always** been family, Mi." Letty crossed the room then, wrapping her arms around the younger girl's shoulders and tucking Mia's head under her chin. "A piece of paper and a priest don't make it mean more."

_Official Disclaimer_: All Fast and Furious characters and plots belong to Original Film, Universal Pictures, and Neal Moritz I do not hold stock either the companies or the man. Dominic Toretto, Letty Ortiz and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title, and summary come from the Rob Thomas song _Little Wonders _and I don't own that either.

* * *

It was safe to say that she hadn't seen it coming.

After a two full weeks of living in limbo: complete with hospitals, and surgeries, paperwork, and Dom flat lining – twice. There had been debriefings and vehicles to tow, insurance information, and – God forgive her – a Charger to unearth. And to top it all off, a two hour shouting match with a partially drugged Dominic as to whether or not she should go back to the hotel to get a full night's sleep and an actual bath, or if she was going to be spending his last night in the hospital curled up in the poor excuse for a recliner again.

She was still pissed that with the aid of the night nurse, Dom had won that round.

Letty announced her presence to the other occupants of the two bedroom suite the second the door closed behind her. There was a grunt of acknowledgement from upstairs, and not a minute later, all five feet, seven inches of Amelia Isabella Toretto O'Connor marched right up to her.

And slapped her.

The keys to the rented SUV dug into her palm as she resisted every instinct she had to hit her back. Instead, she took a breath, brought her empty hand up to touch her lip to try to assess the damage, and then turned towards the bar, tossing her keys onto the counter. "Your wife's lost her damn mind!" She shouted toward the stairs, wondering if beating the hell out of Brian would make up for the fact that he obviously had enough time to warn her that Mia was on the warpath, and decided to against it. There was another grunt, this one further above her, and she could have sworn she heard Brian mutter 'every man for himself.'

Mia's voice was strong, her eyes hot. "Leticia García Ortiz-"

**That's** when it clicked.

And Letty should have seen this one coming.

Her phone joined her keys on the counter, and Letty shrugged out of her jacket with the nonchalance that only someone who had years of experience dealing with the moods and whims of the Toretto siblings could muster. "Are we really going to do this now?" She asked slowly. When Mia didn't so much as blink, she turned. "Your brother gets released tomorrow. You sure you don't want to scream at us together?"

"Eleven weeks." If Letty hadn't been facing her, she never would have been able to hear that Mia had even spoken. "From the night you two got married, to the day that you died, you had eleven **god damn** weeks to tell me about it!" Her voice rose with every word, and Letty rolled her shoulders back and just soaked it all in. "And for seven of those you slept right down the hall!"

Seven weeks was slight miscalculation on Mia's part.

But Letty wasn't about to point that out.

She had been married for two weeks, three days and thirteen hours before the morning that she had woken up in the cabaña with two jobs worth of cash and Dom's cross. She'd left her car for Han to sell, both of them doing a brilliant job of ignoring the fact that she had been left behind, and in less than an hour she had been on a plane from Punta Cana to Panama City with a connector in Havana. She called in a favor with one of Dom's contacts in the port city to get a set of wheels when she'd touched down. She'd spent the next 2,210 miles fumbling somewhere between blind anger and panic, working on auto-pilot as she stopped only to eat, refuel, and toss and turn in a random motel room in Dallas, and then again in nowhere New Mexico. Mia found her an hour after she pulled into the driveway in Echo Park, hair still wet from her shower and a shocking number of empty beer bottles accumulated around her on the front step. Letty had had just enough energy to curse Dom in Spanish, repeat his warning that the cops had been closing in it wasn't safe for them to travel together, and ask what was for dinner. They never openly discussed what had happened in the Dominican again.

Before her accident, Letty had always been quick to anger. It was probably the only thing that she knew about herself before Shaw dropped that dossier onto the table for all to see. It had made for some epic arguments in the Toretto household, and – truth be told – some even better sex. After the accident, it had been something that Shaw had suggested that she work on. His favorite phrase through the first few weeks of her rehabilitation was ' he who angers you conquers you,' and even after her memories returned, it was one thing that stuck with her. She tried to ignore the voice in her head that repeated that line as she crossed her arms and clenched her jaw, waiting through the silence to see if her oldest friend was planning on railing some more.

When it was clear Mia was waiting for a response, Letty shrugged. "Would it have made a difference?" She asked after a second, shoving her hands into the front pockets of her jeans.

Her mouth opened, and Letty watched Mia's throat work to try to find sound to come from it. When nothing came out, swallowed and started again.

"Mia," her elbows dropped, and she took half a step back to lean on the bar behind her. "I've known you almost my entire life – practically moved in with you when I was ten. We've done good, we've done bad, and we've done a few things that I pray to God aren't on a police report somewhere for your kids to find." There was a stilted laugh then, and Letty allowed her eyes to drift from Mia's face to the ceiling for the briefest of seconds. "Other than the fact that you could have put another name on my tombstone – one that I'm not legally anyway – what difference would there have been if I'd told you?"

Mia choked out a sob, and Letty watched the anger float right off of her face. "I would have known." She brought her arms up around herself and bit her lip. "Letty you're **family** **–"**

"I've **always** been family, Mi." Letty crossed the room then, wrapping her arms around the younger girl's shoulders and tucking Mia's head under her chin. "A piece of paper and a priest don't make it mean more."

"There was a priest?"

The sniffles subsided, and Letty blew a breath from between her teeth, recognizing a shift in gears when she heard one. "And I wore white." She confirmed, shaking the silver cross on her wrist. It was heavier than she remembered it being, and since Dom wasn't allowed to have it while he was admitted, she had taken to wrapping it around her wrist as a makeshift bracelet until it could be returned to him. "You can blame your brother for the lack of rings. He and Han put it together in a couple of hours." She pulled Mia over to the couches, dropping the younger woman onto one and perching herself on the arm. "I don't even think there are any pictures."

"Sounds perfect." Mia smiled again, and Letty caught Brian sitting on the top step out of the corner of her eye.

He nodded when he noticed her, and she raised an eyebrow. He wasn't getting off that easy for not tipping her off. "It was us," Letty corrected. "Vee flew in from Peru, and shouted the funeral march on my way down the aisle."

The laughter turned somber then, and Mia nodded with her. "I wish I could have been there."

"You were." When Mia looked up at her, Letty smiled. "In all the ways that mattered, you were."

Mia sniffled again, almost tucking herself into Letty's lap. "I'm sorry I hit you."

The laugh that bubbled up was an easy one, and Letty's arms came up around the younger girl one more time. "It happens." There was another giggle, and she dropped her chin to the top of Mia's head. "You didn't break a nail, did you?"

"Shut up." Mia gave her a shove, and Letty had to brace herself with one foot on the coffee table to keep from falling.

"Just making sure,"


	2. What Do You Say

Title: These Small Hours  
Category: Movies » Fast and the Furious  
Author: And The Moment's Gone  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Words: 1,375

Warnings/Spoilers: Do NOT watch if you haven't seen Furious 7.

Summary: "I've **always** been family, Mi." Letty crossed the room then, wrapping her arms around the younger girl's shoulders and tucking Mia's head under her chin. "A piece of paper and a priest don't make it mean more."

_Official Disclaimer_: All Fast and Furious characters and plots belong to Original Film, Universal Pictures, and Neal Moritz I do not hold stock either the companies or the man. Dominic Toretto, Letty Ortiz and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title, and summary come from the Rob Thomas song _Little Wonders _and I don't own that either.

* * *

Mia was exhausted.

There really was no better word for it.

Brian had called no less than half a dozen hours after the news reported various explosions in downtown LA. The good news was that it was over. Shaw was captured, everyone was alive, and it was officially safe to come home. The bad news was her brother had been medevac'd to Cedars-Sinai after bringing half a car park down onto himself.

It was a lot to take in at 4 in the morning,

Brian and Mando had agreed that she didn't need to hurry. She was sent back to bed with an 'I love you' and the promise of a plane ticket, and if she couldn't get back to sleep and chose to go ahead and pack her an Jack's things, well that was on her. When she and Jack emerged from their suite hours later, her flight had been booked as promised. It was a 5 pm flight out of Punta Cana, and she'd been fed lunch at a resort in Puerto Plata on the way. She was only in the air for about 7 hours, but with a 3-hour layover in Miami, and a toddler, it felt like twice that.

It also didn't help that Brian still hadn't given her any news on her brother.

She had expected to be greeted at the airport by her husband, or at the very least Letty, who had probably gotten entirely too uncomfortable with sitting around in waiting rooms. What she got instead was Roman Pierce and a military escort.

Despite her protests she wasn't immediately taken to the hospital. After the bags were loaded, he announced that they had the Penthouse at the Beverly Wilshire, as well as the Presidential Suite below it for their use, and if he showed up to the hospital with Jack in tow Brian would probably arrange a room for him right next to her brother.

"He's okay." Rome told her as he was leading her to the elevator. "Let's get Jackie settled, and I'll take you up there."

She didn't even stop to question who was going to watch her son while she was gone.

An hour later – after a shower that she swore she didn't need – Mia found herself ushered past another uniformed officer on her way into the ICU.

"Brian's still downstairs." Tej came out of nowhere, and Mia wrapped her arms around him as easily as she had greeted Rome, mentally ass jessing his bruises and making sure that his injuries were superficial. "They took him for x-rays after Letty came back from her MRI."

"X-rays?" Mia's head swam. Brian had assured her that no one else was seriously injured. "And why the hell did Letty need a MRI?"

"Dislocated shoulder, and he was complaining that his wrist hurt. Letty insisted he be seen." Tej chuckled as he remembered the way Letty had told Brian that under no uncertain terms was he allowed to argue with her. "And as for the MRI..." Tej and Roman shared a slow smile, "I think we should let them tell you."

_Them_ sounded promising, at least to Mia's tired ears. "Where's Dom?"

"Last door on the right." Tej's arm came up, and he waved to the guard at the end of the hall. "Jakande's dead and Shaw's in custody, but Hobbes is still keeping it tight."

Mia wrapped her arms around her chest, and tried to brace herself for whatever state she was about to find her brother. The guard nodded to her as she approached. She snagged the chart out of the wall file, scanning the contents and buying for more time. According to the report, the most serious injuries her brother sustained were hemothorax and a concussion. They had stemmed the internal bleeding the best they could around the lungs, careful to avoid the broken ribs, and cracked collarbone, and MRIs and CTs showed no intracranial hemorrhaging. Everything else, while substantial, was more or less superficial. A sprained wrist that would heal, broken bones that would mend, and as long as he followed doctor's orders, no more than a week and a half in the hospital. Mia suppressed a giggle. He would be in for two weeks, minimum. Her brother was more stubborn than the man she married.

When she couldn't put it off any longer she closed the chart, dropping it back invto the wall file. The guard smiled at her slowly, and she pushed the door open the rest of the way and took a single step into the room.

And froze.

It was her brother she noticed first, in a pair of sweatpants, and a hospital gown for a shirt. He was propped up in the bed, shifted a little too far to one side for her liking, with one arm behind his head and his bare feet poking out from underneath the blanket. She could almost hear him fussing about the fact that he didn't need socks. She noted the bruising on his hands, the way one arm was wrapped, almost hallway up his humorous, and the fact that there was gauze peeking out of the sleeve of the same shoulder. There was a bandage on the side of his head, and she had to resist the urge to grab his chart again and confirm the rest of his injuries. His eyes were closed, although she was willing to bet he wasn't asleep, and his head was tilted at an odd angle, his cheek resting on something soft and dark.

It was this that gave Mia pause.

She was laying on her side, something that Mia knew she would probably bitch about later, in a DSS hoodie that was at least three sizes too large for her. Her face was pressed against his chest, one leg tucked over Dom's knees, the other straight out to allow for no room between his and hers. One hand was tucked underneath her chin, between his shoulder and her cheek, and the other, with Dom's silver cross wrapped around it like a bracelet, was stretched across his chest, Mia didn't need to count her breaths to know that there was absolutely no way that Letty was awake. And while normally the woman slept hard and wild, tossing and turning and taking up both halves of the bed at once, Mia noted that it didn't look like she could move if she had to. It was almost as if time had rewound, and Mia was staring ten years into the past.

She smiled sadly.

"I could have sworn Rome was told not to bring you here 'til morning."

Mia jumped slightly, and then shook her head at the sound of her brother's chuckle. "You're breaking at least three hospital regulations." She countered, dropping her bag to the floor at the foot of the bed, and then moving to the chair that had been shifted closer. "Your chart said you're supposed to be using a nasal cannula."

Dom chuckled again, lifting his cheek from the top of Letty's head. In the twenty-four hours since he had been admitted, this had been the first time he had been able to get her to stop moving. He'd be damned if she woke up now. "**That's** what you're gonna lecture me about now?" He pulled his other arm from behind his head, reaching out to take Mia's from where they clutched the bed rail. "Brian said that he told you I was fine."

"He didn't mention the hemothorax. **Or** that you flat lined."

His thumb rubbed circles on the back of Mia's hand. "I'm still here, ain't I?"

Arguing was futile.

Instead, Mia kissed the knuckles on the hand she was holding and leaned in to press it to her forehead. "Don't do it again," she told him harshly.

His chest rumbled, and Mia watched as Letty's chin shifted slightly. Dom rested his cheek back on the top of her head, and murmured something in a language Mia didn't immediately recognize, and Letty's eyes fluttered shut again.

It took another minute before her brother turned his head to meet her eyes. "Yeah." Mia kissed his knuckles again. "You're not getting out of explaining that one either."

Her brother's smile said it all.


	3. Just Tonight

Title: These Small Hours  
Category: Movies » Fast and the Furious  
Author: And The Moment's Gone  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Words: 1,637  
Warnings/Spoilers: Do NOT watch if you haven't seen Furious 7.

Summary: Ever since he had been released from the hospital, his wife had developed an uncanny ability to sneak up on him. And if he hadn't had a cracked collarbone and six broken ribs, he would have made his displeasure at this revelation known.

_Official Disclaimer_: All Fast and Furious characters and plots belong to Original Film, Universal Pictures, and Neal Moritz I do not hold stock either the companies or the man. Dominic Toretto, Letty Ortiz and any other character featured are NOT mine. The title and summary come from the Rob Thomas song _Little Wonders _and I don't own that either.

* * *

"I'm still pissed at you." Her voice came out of nowhere, and Dom had the resist the urge to spin around. Ever since he had been released from the hospital, his wife had developed an uncanny ability to sneak up on him. And if he hadn't had a cracked collarbone and six broken ribs, he would have made his displeasure at this revelation known.

Instead, he set his Corona on the step next to him and cocked his head to the side. "Never expected your temper to change." He stole a glance as she stepped over the beer, coming down two more steps and dropping herself into the open space between his legs. "Just like one of these days we're gonna have a nice long conversation about what part of your brain possessed you to go to the Feds and offer to be a drug runner for my pardon."

There was a pause, Letty taking a sip of the beer he didn't notice she was holding, and then she shrugged. "I'll win that one too." She decided.

He laughed, which only really served to remind him that his ribs were wrapped too tight, and it was probably time for another round of pain medication. He wasn't going to bring that up either. It was their first night in the suite alone since he had been released, and he wasn't about to waste it being high. Instead he pulled her backwards by her shoulders, resting her back against his chest.

"We're actually gonna have to start looking for a place soon."

He's not sure if she spoke aloud, or if he could actually read her mind, but he nods against the back of her head anyway. "Mia said the insurance payout on the house should be here soon. She wants to rebuild."

"That house should be standing again." Letty agreed, tilting her head back on his shoulder, but keeping pressure off of his clavicle. "We're gonna need something in the interim though." She used the angle of her neck to allow herself a single kiss to his jugular, and then straightened again. "I don't care how much money you three racked up in Rio, we can't keep living like this."

His chuckle rumbled her chest, and she couldn't help but smile at his amusement. "When did you become the practical one?"

"I've always been the practical one," Letty answered back, glancing up at him from her lashes. "Historically you're the one runnin' off half-cocked, and I have to pull you back in."

"Rio disproves that theory," Dom didn't have to see her face to know she had pushed her tongue to the other side of her teeth, puling her top lip into her mouth. She denied doing it of course, but it was the face that always came before she would actually start to argue.

"You robbed the most powerful man in Brazil, drug a safe through downtown, antagonized a fed, and had your pregnant sister running from every international law enforcement agency on the planet." She still hadn't turned to look at him yet, but he could see her smile through her pursed lips. "Which one of those things sounds remotely sensible?"

Dom used her position on the step to turn her to face him. Once their eyes locked, her face softened. "If I hadn't pissed Hobbs off, he never woulda found you."

"And you knew that when you started doin' it, did you?" Her smile was slow, but he could still see it.

He hugged her tighter, her cheek pressing into his sternum for a few short minutes. When he laughed, it was a short, choppy sound, and Letty knew that the mood had shifted. "You know Vince tried to talk me out of it?" His tone had changed slightly. I was harsher now, gruffer.

"Vee tried to keep you from a fight?"

It was her turn to laugh, and he felt it all the way down to his bones. There had been more to missing her than the physical. "Ain't that some shit?" She nodded, and he dropped his chin to her head. "He wanted to return the chip to Reyes, to give us an out." Neither of them had to point out that there was a chance that if they had, Vince would still be with them. "He actually tried to use you to do it."

The accusation hung firmly in his mind, and any time he thought of Rio, or of the job that had given them the financial security that they enjoy today and the family they created, he knew that it came at a price he wasn't willing to pay a second time. Letty didn't bother to ask him for further clarification. She didn't prod or offer up her own commentary. It may have taken her a few years, but she had learned that when Dom was in his own head, it was best to let him come to her. But then his breathing got too labored, and his head became a little to heavy, and she knew that it was time to break her own rule.

"He probably thought that I was the only one who could bring you to your senses." Shifting her hips to allow her a bigger center of gravity, Letty brought her hand up to skim his ribs, and turned to kiss the hollow of his throat. "You boys never did learn how to talk it out like grown-ups."

It was like life suddenly came back to him, and Dom shifted in his seat, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Vee always liked you more than me anyway."

Letty laughed at his words carefully, shaking her head. It was a ridiculous notion; that was for sure. She distinctly remembered a time after Lompoc, before Vince had officially moved into the house, where she called him first thing in the morning because Dom hadn't come home yet. He was telling her that Dom was still asleep on his couch even as the man himself was trying to sneak in through the kitchen. She would claim Leon, the friend of a friend of her older brother's before he died, but Vince had always been Dom's. "Let's be real here," she decided, taking a deep breath. "He was just pissed that you were taking Brian's side." They both laughed at that, and Letty pulled away to turn all the way around. She was kneeling on the step now, Dom's arms loosely resting on her hips. His chest rumbled, and Dom's hands slid from her hips to her ass, pulling her to him.

Even before she got her memories back, Letty had known there was something in her life that was missing. She had originally tried to fill it with Shaw and his crew, the jobs and the rush of the race. When that didn't work, she told herself that when she was done with Shaw's crew, she would try to find the life that she had left behind. The first night that she and Dom spent together after Spain, curled up together in the Penthouse suite of the Hotel Alfonso in Seville, she felt like the pieces had finally fallen into place. She hadn't had her memory, but she'd almost lost him before she had the chance to get to know him, and that was a feeling that she definitely couldn't shake. With the exception of the four weeks that she had been away, they had never gone a day without a touch or a kiss. Now that she could remember what had lead to her muscle memory, she found that the nights she had had to spend without him to be the hardest in his life.

She leaned into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and clutching the back of his skull. As much as she would have loved to follow his lead, the deck of the hotel – and with his injuries – probably wasn't the best place to allow that to happen. He groaned harshly, his hands still palming her ass, when she pulled away. "No," he kissed his way down her jaw, nipping her collarbone.

"Doctor said no weight or pressure on this thing for another week." She tapped his injured shoulder lightly as she spoke, shaking her head when he began to protest. "I need you healthy, more than I want you right now." Tucking her body in closer to his, she nipped his chin to make him smile. "All this can wait until we're no longer sharing walls with your sister." Another kiss, and she turned, grabbing for her beer and taking another sip as she settled back in against him.

"I'm still good one-handed," he offered sliding his good arm over her shoulder and down her front. It slid between her tank top and the bra, and she couldn't suppress the shudder that ran down her spine.

If he hadn't just been released from the hospital, and he weren't currently suffering from injuries that could very well have killed him, Letty might actually consider taking him up on his offer. Instead she retrieved his hand, and tucked it between her knees. "If you're still feeling up to it later, we can share a bath after you've had your pills," she told him sweetly.

He kissed the top of her head gently, wrapping his other arm around her a bit more gingerly than he wanted to. "This part is a little unexpected." Her laughter was soft, and Dom had to strain to hear it.

And if this was all he was going to get tonight, to spend the evening curled up with his wife in the evening air, then he'd take it. Because he had missed years of this, and he wasn't about to let it go a second time.


End file.
